President Nixon was interviewed by Frank Gannon in 1983.

The Richard Nixon Foundation, the late President of the United States, published a video of him in which Nixon explained the reasons for his attendance at the funeral of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.

WATCH: Why Did Nixon Go To The Shah’s Funeral?

The late President of the United States said: “First of all, I knew him better than any other leader I have seen in the last 37 years of my political life. I met him for the first time in 1953. At that time, I was a young vice president, and he was also a young king in his early 30s. I met him more than 10-12 times after that, and I found him to be a very sensitive and brilliant man. He understood the world better than any other leader I had ever seen. He could have been talking about India, Pakistan, China, or Latin America. Frankly, he could talk about them with the same insight and sophistication as an American leader. And I had a lot of respect for him.”

Nixon added: “I think the main reason I went there was because I was worried that our government was not going to send a high-ranking representative to this event because of the hostage situation [at the American embassy in Tehran].” Richard Nixon, in response to the reporter’s question that “were you not worried that your departure would embarrass President Jimmy Carter?” “No, not at all,” he said, “in fact, it occurred to me that maybe Jimmy Carter had a friend inside that he could have attended, but he couldn’t.” “He thought he shouldn’t go because of the hostage issue.”

Referring to his friendship with the Shah, he said: “I left because the Shah was my friend.” “He was a friend of America, and I thought that a high-ranking person from the United States should be there.” Nixon added: “In my opinion, the most important message that we have to convey to the people of the countries who are in doubt between being with us and being with others is that we are not just friends for their happy days. As we are with our friends and allies in times of strength, we are also with them in times of weakness. “It may not seem like good diplomacy in the short term, but in my opinion, in the long term, if we want to create the necessary support, respect, and self-confidence for America, it is absolutely necessary for us.”

The Richard Nixon Foundation applies the legacy and vision of President Richard Nixon, America’s relentless grand strategist, to defining issues facing our nation and the world.